Photo by Brandon AlmsSpringfield Little Theatre Executive Director Beth Domann and Jeff Houghton met up at MudLounge for some showbiz talk.
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Leadership
Advice and Whiskey with Beth Domann
Beth Domann is the executive director of Springfield Little Theatre, which produces fully staged productions, supported by a thriving education department, with a consistent eye toward growth. We grabbed drinks to discuss the lessons of show biz.
By Jeff Houghton
Sep 2022
“The best advice I’ve ever gotten is, ‘Cast a show right, you’ve done 90% of the work.’ That’s the truth.”
“Whatever you have to do to make things happen, that’s what you do. ‘This is the bottom line, this is the deadline’—don’t settle for excuses.”
“Put your ego and your pride aside and get it done, however you have to do that. We all have to do that.”
“If you expect excellence, you get it.”
“When it comes to volunteers, you want people that believe in the mission. Some people want recognition, some people want a pat on the back, some people need a hug, so it’s about finding out what it is that makes your volunteers tick.”
“I find that people like to feel like a family and be a part of something.”
“Our philosophy is, ‘If you’re not growing, you’re dying.’ Complacency is death. So you always have to reinvent. Always. You can’t stay the same. That’s just not life, so you always have to be looking for the next thing.”
“Say ‘yes’ because you never know where that ‘yes’ is going to lead.”
“Be the person that people want to hang out with and that they want to hire. Because let’s say Person A is pretty talented, but they’re a total butthole, and Person B is really, really talented and great to work with, though not as talented as Person A. I’m going to go with Person B, because I don’t want to deal with that—life’s too short.”
“That’s how you get work, the people that work with you are, at some point later on, going to need something and say, ‘Oh, I know who would be perfect for this.’”
